Walmart Would Like You To Know That They Accept All Forms Of Debit

Meg: Accepted?
Ben: it must mean they take all forms of debit
Meg: Yep.
Meg: I can’t post typo things though. Too hypocritical.
Meg: I’d have to write, “Further proof that Walmart’s grammar is only marginally better than my own.”
Ben: aw
Ben: then the terrorists have already won

Unless things have changed since I worked there, it looks like that was printed on a very simple sign-making utility that has no spell check. Hell, even the manager’s systems didn’t have a real word processor/spreadsheet, just a stripped-down version that was near impossible to work.

Walmart has a program called Smart that runs on a OS that I dont know of. I think it might be a linux or something. (I build computers btw) Anyway they use a very basic if even that text editor that lets them make signs. If you put to many words on a line you risk cutting off the words when you print and you have to manually move down to the next line. Forget spell check or grammar check half of them can hardly type…

Jeez, must be that cognitive thing where your brain fills in the blanks, because for a minute or two, I only noticed the usage error and completely missed the spelling. I was scratching my head at the comments, though. ;)

@machete_bear:
There is no legality either way. Unless there is some law requiring them to take debit cards, even if they had a sign that says “ALL DEBIT CARDS ACCEPTED”, they would be free to dishonor it at any time. Such a sign doesn’t create any sort of contractual obligation on Walmart.

The Wal-Mart here misspelled Blu-Ray as “Blue-Ray” on the Harry Potter DVD display… a minor typo that I can accept, as Blu-ray is a new technology that many people have either a) haven’t heard of or b) have heard of, but are waiting for the Blu-ray/HD DVD format war victor to emerge before they buy the darn players. But this particular Wally World typo is un-“except”-able!

Still, I bet that one could easily use a Visa/MC/Discover debit/check card at that checkout lane as a credit card (read: by asking the cashier to push the “credit” key and then signing the receipt instead of using a PIN). And the funds would still come out of the customer’s checking account anyway whether the customer signs or uses a PIN, so it would be no big deal. Problem solved.

@MFfan310: Probably. The difference between debit and credit in the US is if you key in a code or if you sign.

But then, there’ll always be one or two people that will probably take out their debit card with a Visa/Mastercard logo on it, stare at it, look at the misspelled sign, stare at their debit card again and say: “Damn, I can’t use this debit card!”

No, there are legal differences between debit card and credit cards. While many consumers think that using their debit, or check card, as a credit card gives them the same consumer protection, this is not correct.

Credit Cards – consumer is using the issuer’s money.
Debit Cards – consumer is using their OWN money.

Credit cards have consumer protections for charge backs and fraud that are not the same for debit cards. Some issuers will opt to give consumers similar protection, but they are not LEGALLY required to do so.

I once saw stickers which read “Camera for research purposes only.” It was meant to be placed stealthily on the little electronic eyes that automatically flush toilets in public restrooms. I wish I could find those stickers again, they were great!

@CAD06: actually the program that wal-mart uses for thier printed signs is pretty archaic, and has no “little red squiggly” or even a spellcheck, that being said when I worked for the company (worst, 4, years, ever) one of my managers would have me spellcheck it before she would print it

@azntg: Sometimes I have to key, sometimes I have to sign, sometimes I do neither (and I only ever use a debit card). I don’t even bother to question it at this point, as long as my statement comes out ok

@TheUncleBob: I don’t know if my Credit Union (OH NOES BANKS V CUS!!) is special, but I’ve never paid a fee for a debit transaction.

@Pylon83: Specifically, that is where legal tender comes in versus something else – if you incur a debt by contract (even a sales purchase) without any contravening clause then they must accept cash, but still can refuse credit.

@Pylon83: I essentially agree. It is not “illegal” not to accept CC/Debit Card even if one is contractually committed to doing so. One may have a third party beneficiary claim etc. It is not worth the time to assert such claims. The best thing is to report the violation to Visa/Mastercard.

It is the basic difference between public law (the statutes as well as private rights to sue under the statutes) and the private law of contracts. You can breach a contract and pay the price for such a breach, and while it is essentially in some ways a breach of trust (a subjective ethical question), it is not illegal.